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: duke in australia, 1914 |
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duke kahanamoku's
australian tour, 1914-1915
INTRODUCTION
Although Australian surfers were enthusiastic
in their early surfing adventures, Duke Kahanamoku's contributions in the
summer of 1914-1915 established the defining elements of Australian surfing
culture.
1. Surf riding is not something
new but has an ancient tradition - historically comparable with the
Greek Olympics.
2. Surf riding is not limited
to Waikiki.
3..A full critique of the mechanics
of surfing, including
- wave knowledge, safety and rescue.
- instruction, including tandem lessons.
- surfboard construction and design.
- the principles of the hand shaping.
and demonstrated by a surfing performance
that would not be eclipsed in Australia for 40 years.
Apart from breaking several current world
records, the tour may have had a significant impact of the development
of modern swimming technique.
For Australian society, Duke Kahanamoku's
visit brought into question some commonly held views of racial superiority.
Olympic Games, Stockholm - 1912
Following his victory in the Olympic 100
metre sprint in 1912 over Australian swimmers Cecil Healy (2nd.) and William
Longworth, Duke Kahanamoku was invited to tour Australia to compete in
various state championships and demonstrate his progressive swimming style.
The invitation was eagerly accepted, he
was well aware of Australia's enthusiasm for water sports and it has been
reported that his swimming style was developed by adapting the straight
leg kick used by some Australian swimmers in Waikiki around 1910.
Furthermore, his success in Stockholm
was made possible by an outstanding act of sportsmanship by his closest
rival, Cecil Healy, who demanded the final be rescheduled when Duke Kahanamoku
failed to show up in time.
Eel Battle
1913 January 29. Long Beach Press
HAWAIIAN SWIMMER BATTLES WITH BIG
EEL
As a result of a battle to the death
with a ten-foot eel, the largest ever seen here. Duke Kahanamoku, who won
the world's championship at Stockholm, is today minus the index finger
on his right hand and his swimming prowess may be permanently impaired.
The swimmer encountered the eel while
practicing for the Australian swimming championships off here, and after
a fight lasting several minutes, choked it to death. He was exhausted when
he reached the shore, with the eel's body in tow.
http://www.honolulu.gov/cameras/waikiki_beach/duke.htm
US Surfboardriding Demonstration.
1913 July 12. Daily Telegram
LOCAL BOY RACES HAWAIIAN CHAMP
Pete Lenz, captain of the local Long
Beach high school swimming team, proved a worthy opponent of Duke Kahanamoku,
the famous Hawaiian swimmer, last night in the 220-yard race at the Los
Angeles Athletic Club, the Hawaiian finished less than a half-tank length
ahead of the Long Beach boy. The winner's time was 2 minutes, 41 seconds.
The Hawaiian walked away with the 100-yard event, in which Crary and Howard,
of L.A.A.C. were his only opponents, his time being 55 1/5.
The great Hawaiian swimmer and six
members of the Hawaiian team spent several hours in Long Beach yesterday.
They came upon the invitation of Pete Lenz. They couldn't resist the surf
and the Duke gave a thrilling exhibition of surfboard riding. Thousands
of people enjoyed watching him. Many people here have expressed a wish
that the Bath House company would present frequent surfboard riding exhibitions
such as was offered yesterday. It is believed they would prove a big card.
http://www.honolulu.gov/cameras/waikiki_beach/duke.htm
To Australia - 1914
Leaving Honolulu aboard RMS Ventura
on the 30th November 1914, he was accompanied by 19 year old surfer/swimmer
George Cuhna and manager Francis Evans.
George Cuhna was possibly member of a
family that owned beach property fronting "Cuhna Surf" and/or
a member of the Outrigger Canoe Club and/or
Haui Nui Club, Waikiki.
Francis Evans replaced Mr W.T. Rawlins,
president of the Hawaiian Amateur Athletic Union, who was expected to lead
the tour.
SMH
9 December 1914 Page 6
The arrival in Sydney was eagerly
anticipated and the New South Wales Amateur Swimming Association prepared
advertising posters promoting his appearance at events on the 2nd, 6th
and 9th January, 1915.
These highlighted Duke Kahanamoku's surfing
prowess and were variations on the surfriding image used on advertising
for the Mid Pacific Carnival, Honolulu, 18th to 21st February, 1914.
Kampion
, page 38.
Credited to Bishop Museum
|
Thoms
2000, page 22.
|
Arrival - 14th December
A reception committee (James Taylor, E.S.
Marks, W.W. Hill, C.D. Jones, and W.W. Scott) was appointed to provide
an official welcoming for the party.
A large number of officials, press and
public were at the whalf when RMS Ventura dock at Circular Quay
? about 1 pm on 14th December 1914.
The group were the driven by motor cars
to their designated tour accommodation at the Oxford Hotel.
A press report of the arrival noted the
Duke Kahamamoku's fame as a surf rider as well as his swimming record
The Sun, December 14, 1914, page
5.
An official reception was held at tne
Hotel Australia at 5 pm.
Speeches...
Followed by a visit to inspect the pool
and facilities at the Domain.
Swimming events were not held in regulation
sized pools
Randwick and Coogee Gala - 16th
December
The touring party attended the Randwick
and Coogee Gala as guests
to-night, and Sydney- Melbourne contest
on Saturday.
Duke's Surfboard : 15
- 21st December
| During this week, with apparently no offical
or competitive duties, Duke Kahanamoku was acquainted with Australian surfing
enthusiasts at Manly and Freshwater Beaches.
He was accommodated at Boomerang Camp,
Freshwater, were he could experience Australian beaches and hopefully exhibit
his renowned surfing skill.
By this time body surfing had become common
on Australian beaches, actively promoted by the Surf Life Saving movement,
and although boards (notably the one brought from Honolulu by C. D. Paterson
of Manly in 1912) were being used in the surf there was a doubt that surfriding
as seen in Hawaii could be replicated in local conditions.
A ‘makeshift’ board was constructed
- George Hudson’s, a Sydney timber firm, donated a piece of Sugar
pine (Pinus lambertiana) 9 ft long,
2 ft wide and 3" thick and cut out the template to Duke Kahanamoku’s instructions.
He ‘hurriedly’ finished the board by shaping
the rails, and by adding nose lift and (reportedly) a concave section in
the bottom.
It is possible that the board was test
ridden during this week.
Enthused by Duke Kahanamoku's skill and
committment to surfing, 'someone' arranged and publisized a surfriding
demonstration for Freshwater Beach at 11.00 am Wednesday 22 December,
1914. |
For board
template
image see
Phil Abraham
Hidden Valley
Longboarding
Magazine,
Edition 18
November -
December 2001
, page 35.
photographs
by
Nathan Smith.
|
Board template image
cropped from Longboarding
Magazine,
Edition 18 November
- December 2001, page 35. Photograph by Nathan Smith
The Non - Demonstation - 23rd December
1914
Since the NSW Swimming Association had
Duke Kahanamoku under exclusive contract and were publisizing his first
public appearance as 2nd January, the proposed surfing demonstration was
in legal dispute.
The result was that Duke did not make
an appearance, much to the disappointment of an crowd estimated between
2000 - 3000 people. - The Sun, December 23, 1914, page
5.
Freshwater Demonstation - Thursday
24th December 1914
Wonderful
Surf Riding : Kahanamoku on the Board The Sun, Thursday
24th December 1914 page 6.
Surf-board
Riding : Kahanamoku's Display SMH, Friday
25th December 1914 page 7
Acrobatics
in the Surf The Daily Telegraph Friday
25th December 1914 page 7. Image below.
Manly Baths - Friday 25th December
1914
Visit
Ear problems - 29th December
1914
Domain Carnival - Saturday 2nd
January 1915
Carroll,
N, Page 26
Peter Luck productions
Domain Carnival - Wednesday 6th January
1915
Interview with W. F. Corbett of The
Sun - Thursday 7th January 1915
Printed the next day...
Kahanamoku
Talks The Sun, Friday 8th January 1915 page 6.
Domain Carnival - Saturday 9th
January 1915
Kahanamoku was beaten by Adrian in the
440 yards.
At the formal dinner after the Domain
Carnival it was reported...
The visitors were not such accomplished
speakers as swimmers, though it is possible that Messrs. Kahanamoku and
Cunha are gifted enough when they speak in the native tongue, for no one
present was able to interpret the compliments they gave voice to with wreaths
of smiles.
The Duke and his comrades introduced
a novelty by substituting for the speech a song, with the Duke playing
the accompaniment on his mandolin. (Ukelele ?)
Though all present did not hear
this clearly, it was a remarkably popular innovation and led to an encore.
The Referee
13 January 1915.
The Cynic : A Few Remarks on Swimming. Page 15.
Freshwater Demonstation - Sunday 10th
January 1915
Maybe...
Declining an offer from the Manly surfboat
crew, he paddled out from the beach. In a remarkable demonstration of skill,
in 6 ft surf he cut left, cut right, rode standing on his head and tandem
with 15 year old Isobel Letham.
In the following weeks he competed at
the previously arranged swimming events, setting a new world record for
the 100 yards, and gave further surfing demonstrations at metropolitan
beaches.
These included Coogee ?, Cronulla, Dee
Why and other Northern beaches.
Several other (probably at least three
in total) boards were shaped and possibly donated
to raise donations for the war effort.
|
Duke Kahanamoku and
Board Freshwater
Clubhouse,
Sunday 10th January 1915
Image ,cropped from...
i. Warshaw,
page 31.
ii. Thoms,
page 22.
* Not the
same photograph, but certainly taken within minutes of each other.
or
i. Longboard Magazine April/May
1996 page 74
ii. Warshaw,
page 18.
iii. Kampion,
page 40.
|
Duke Kahanamoku (centre)
and crowd
Freshwater Clubhouse,
Sunday 10th January 1915
Myers,
page 17.
|
|
|
Duke Kahanamoku carrying
board in the traditional
solid wood manner, 1915.
Myers
,page 56.
circa January - February
1915
|
Duke Kahanamoku sliding
left,
Freshwater Beach, 1915.
Myers
page 56.
circa January - February 1915
|
|
 |
Duke Kahanamoku leaving the
water Freshwater Beach,
Possibly 10th January 1915.
Click image for
detailed analysis.
i. Young,
page 47
Credited : 15 January 1915.
Snow McAlister
ii. Longboard
Magazine
April/May 1996 page 73.
-printed in sepia.
iii. Hall
and Ambrose,
page 40.
Credited : Courtesy Heather Rose
|
 |
Duke Kahanamoku apres
surf, with
Fred Williams, first local bodysurfer
(moustache),
Harry Hay, Olympic swimmer (to his
right).
Don McIntyre, far left.
'Boomerang' camp, Freshwater Beach,
circa January - February 1915.
Note swimsuit drying on rail, left.
Margan
and Finney, page 112.
|
Duke Kahanamoku
Harry Hay, Olympic swimmer, to his
left.
Don McIntyre, far left.
Boomerang Camp, Freshwater,
circa January - February 1915.
Longhurst
2000, page 16.
Credited as Cronulla. |
|
Tour Finances - Tuesday 12th January 1915
The Sun
12 January 1915.
Page 7
First Brisbane Carnival (one of three)
- Saturday 16 January 1915
SMH
18 January 1915 p 5
Further swimming demonstrations/competitions
followed in Brisbane, Rockhampton, Maryborough, Mount Morgan (all Queensland),
and Melbourne; the eight surfing exhibitions apparently confined to Sydney.
Surf Board Injury, Coogee
- 23 January 1915
The
Sun
24 January 1915. Page 4
Manly Surf Board Restrictions,
- 28 January 1915
The
Sun
29 January 1915. Page 2
Return to Sydney from
Brisbane - 4th February 1915
SMH 23 January 1915 p13
Dee Why Carnival - 6 February
1915
Surf Carnivals were already established
as fund raising events for the Surf Life Saving movement and the Duke's
appearance included a fee (probably paid to the NSW Swimming Association)
making him the first professional surfer in Australia. The demonstration
at Dee Why (6th February, 1915?) reprised the tandem surfing display with
Isobel Letham and attracted a huge crowd.
"Dee Why Club ... spent a lot of
money to engage Duke Kahanamoku ... proving such an attraction to the paying
public that in the thirty years afterwards the club did not succeed in
matching that day's takings."
 |
Duke Kahanamoku's board in transit,
circa January - February
1915
i. Longboard Magazine
April/May 1996 page 74
ii. Warshaw,
page 18.
iii. Kampion
, page 40.
|
Cronulla Demonstation - 7th February 1914
One of the boards was surfed at Cronulla
in February (possibly 6th), 1915. The Cronulla Club undertook extensive
preparations to ensure the day was a success and to suitably honour their
guest. Upon leaving the steam train at Sutherland, Duke Kahanamoku and
his party were welcomed to the district by Club members and then transported
in members' cars to Audley via Waterfall and Lady Carrington Drive. After
lunch at Audley, the party travelled by ferry to Cronulla for the surfing
demonstration. Tea in the Park Pavillion was arranged before the party
returned to Sutherland for a farewell ceremony. The board was presented
to the Surf Bathing Association of New South Wales and subsequently became
the property of a Cronulla Club member, Ron 'Prawn' Bowden.
See Duke
Kahanamoku's Visit to Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club, 1915 circa
1960.
Also note Young, Faye M. : Building
Strong Traditions - A History of the Cronulla Surf Life saving Club
1908 - 1957
|
Duke Kahanamoku, Cronulla Beach
7th February 1915.
i. Warshaw,
page 30
Credited as Freshwater, 1914.
ii. Kampion
, page 40.
Freshwater, inferred.
iii. Thoms,
page 22.
|
Drummoyne Carnival - 8th February 1915
SMH 9 February 1915 p 12
Newcasle Gala - 10th February 1915
Melbourne Visit - 12 - 13 February
1915
Autographed Postcard, Feb 11 1915.
E. S. Marks was prominant
in Sydney sports.
Sydney's premier athletic track is named
The E.S. Marks Field.
Postcard reproduced from private collection.
Goulburn Carnival - 17 February 1915
Patriotic Carnival and
Surfboard Auction 19 February 1915
- Mooted but cancelled, SMH 26
January 1915 p13
Departure - 19 February
1915
Returning to Hawaii (via new Zealand)
he left the board, and a great amount of surf knowledge, with Claude West.
Claude West rode the board, dominating surfboard competitions in the period
1915 to 1922, and was the first Australian Board Champion.
The design
would be replicated for the next 30 years.
In 1953 Claude West donated the board
to the Freshwater Surf Lifesaving Club.
Duke Kahanamoku, George Cuhna and Francis
Evans left Australia on the Moerake, 19th February 1915
New Zealand - 24 th February
1915
Duke Kahanamoku, George Cuhna and Francis
Evans arrived in Wellington, New Zealand on 24 th February, 1915 for another
series of swimming exhibitions.
The New Zealand visit also included surfriding
demonstrations, firstly on the North Island at Lyall Bay, Wellington and
on the South Island at New Brighton, Christchurch.
Presumably these exhibitions used another
'makeshift board'.
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